Answered By: Lauren Fowler

Last Updated: Sep 29, 2015Views: 14

A journal is a collection of articles written by experts in an academic or professional field, such as professors or researchers. They are intended to be read by other professors, researchers and students, and include lists of references (citations). They are often peer-reviewed (reviewed by experts in the field prior to publication to assess the quality of the research).

A magazine is a collection of articles about diverse topic of general interest and current events. Usually these are written by journalists and geared toward the general public. They tend to be shorter than journal articles and rarely include citations for their sources.

For more information, see our guide on Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals, or check out the tutorial below from Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University.